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The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced the winners of its 2026 Awards in Music. Six of them have past or present associations with the Mizzou New Music Initiative.
Katherine Balch, a fall 2025 MNMI Guest Composer, and Texu Kim, a 2014 MICF Resident Composer, were among four recipients of Arts and Letters Awards in Music, which “acknowledge composers who have arrived at their own voice.” Each will receive $10,000, plus an additional $10,000 for the recording of a work. A concert with works by each recipient will be performed in the Arts and Letters Library as part of the Academy’s Salon Concert Series, which was established in 2015.
Karola Obermueller, a Distinguished Guest Composer for this year’s Mizzou International Composers Festival, was the sole recipient of a Wladimir and Rhoda Lakond Award of $10,000, which is given to experienced composers.
Viet Cuong, a 2018 MICF Resident Composer and a spring 2025 MNMI Guest Composer, and Celka Ojakangas, a 2021 MICF Resident Composer, were each awarded Goddard Lieberson Fellowships of $15,000. The award “recognizes young composers of extraordinary gifts.”
Arjan Singh Dogra, a Resident Composer for this year’s MICF, was one of six recipients of a Charles Ives Scholarship of $7,500, awarded to graduate or undergraduate students.
The 300 members of Arts and Letters nominate candidates for awards, and a rotating committee of composer members selects the winners. This year, the music award committee members were Christopher Theofanidis (chair), Derek Bermel, Libby Larsen, David Sanford, and Wadada Leo Smith.
For more information on the American Academy of Arts and Letters, visit their website.
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